Honeymoon Period

[nevenaves]

I have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since May. I was released from the hospital with blurred vision and a high dose of insulin (I don't know if 16 units of Lantus and 6 units of Novorapid is high, but it wasn't adequate therapy for me). After being constantly low my doses were gradually reduced within 2 weeks. For the last 2 months, I 've been using only 10 units of Lantus in the morning, no Novorapid at all. Following week, I will have the 1st appointment with my endocrinologist since I was released from the hospital. In meanwhile I was seeing my diabetic nurse, ophthalmologist and nutritionist. My sugar is more-less stabile, it ranges between 4-6 with 1 spike during the day 8-11, but there is no pattern. Can you please tell me what should I ask my doctor, because after this appointment I will not be scheduled for a few months again. So, far I've been told that there are no rules on how long the honeymoon period could last/be prolonged. Besides diabetes, I have a long history of endometriosis. When I asked the doctors in the hospital, could these two conditions be related (my logic is that one hormone affects the other and at the time my symptoms were becoming visible I started a new hormonal therapy for my cysts), they were all very decisive that these two conditions have nothing to do with each other. As you can see, I am still very green and full of questions. All the advice is more than welcome.

 

[Juicyj]

Hello and welcome to the forum @nevenaves

No one will understand your condition more than yourself, as you live with this 24/7 it is really only you who will grasp the complexities and daily challenges, so hence why learning and developing your knowledge as much as possible will help you control and manage better. The honeymoon period is difficult to gauge, I felt mine only lasted around 6 months, and during this time I suffered alot of instability with managing my BG levels due to the occasional pancreas squirts so when my pancreas finally gave up it made my control alot easier, I also learned within this period that reducing carbs helped me manage better too as there was less see-sawing on the BG levels, eating large amounts of carbs meant injecting more insulin which meant more room for error as well as big spikes, I know that others control their levels fine with eating large amounts of carbs, but what works for one doesn't necessarily work for others, it's about balance and finding what works for you. 'Think like a pancreas' is a good read, written by a type 1 Gary Scheiner. I don't know much about endometriosis however I do know as a female that hormones are all intricately linked in type 1 control as i've seen the monthly cycle impact on my control.

Ask away, there's always someone around who will understand and can help with support, we're a friendly helpful bunch here

 

[porl69]

Hello @nevenaves and welcome to the forum.
@Juicyj has pretty much got it covered I will add that when you see the doctor about your diabetes that you should also see a DSN (Diabetic Specialist Nurse) who will be able most times to give you help and advice with just a phone call. Otherwise the forum members here are all VERY helpful and will help and advise whenever they can......ask away with any questions you may have

 

[nevenaves]

Hello and welcome to the forum @nevenaves

No one will understand your condition more than yourself, as you live with this 24/7 it is really only you who will grasp the complexities and daily challenges, so hence why learning and developing your knowledge as much as possible will help you control and manage better. The honeymoon period is difficult to gauge, I felt mine only lasted around 6 months, and during this time I suffered alot of instability with managing my BG levels due to the occasional pancreas squirts so when my pancreas finally gave up it made my control alot easier, I also learned within this period that reducing carbs helped me manage better too as there was less see-sawing on the BG levels, eating large amounts of carbs meant injecting more insulin which meant more room for error as well as big spikes, I know that others control their levels fine with eating large amounts of carbs, but what works for one doesn't necessarily work for others, it's about balance and finding what works for you. 'Think like a pancreas' is a good read, written by a type 1 Gary Scheiner. I don't know much about endometriosis however I do know as a female that hormones are all intricately linked in type 1 control as i've seen the monthly cycle impact on my control.

Ask away, there's always someone around who will understand and can help with support, we're a friendly helpful bunch here

Thank you Juicyj

 

[nevenaves]

Hello @nevenaves and welcome to the forum.
@Juicyj has pretty much sgot it covered I will add that when you see the doctor about your diabetes that you should also see a DSN (Diabetic Specialist Nurse) who will be able most times to give you help and advice with just a phone call. Otherwise the forum members here are all VERY helpful and will help and advise whenever they can......ask away with any questions you may have

Thank you porl69

Thank you Juicyj

 

[Daibell]

Honeymoon periods vary greatly. Mine lasted something around 5 years with increasing loss of BS control during that time despite all the tables and then insulin. The pancreas can fail for many reasons and the failure rate is unpredictable.

 

[nevenaves]

Honeymoon periods vary greatly. Mine lasted something around 5 years with increasing loss of BS control during that time despite all the tables and then insulin. The pancreas can fail for many reasons and the failure rate is unpredictable.

Thank you Daibell! My sugar was under control for a month (at least 1 hypo a week and never more than 8), then I had a month of bit higher sugar and a spike once a day (usually breakfast or lunch 8, 3- 11,3, very rarely dinner). For the last 10 days, my sugar has been a bit lower than the first month. I am not counting carbs precisely, but I know the values of the ingredients I use in my kitchen and I go for around 30-40 gr of carbs for my main meals and snacks 15-20 gr of carbs. Do you have any suggestions for what I should start implementing at this stage?

I forgot to add one more detail. 2 years before I was diagnosed I had constant yeast infections, a month after the treatment an infection would appear. 1st two periods after I was diagnosed/started regulating my sugar I didn't have the infection but the following period I got the infection. As I said before, I have endometriosis so I gynaecologist quite often, no one suggested checking my sugar. Internet says that yeast infection is in correlation with diabetes. Any suggestions on how to regulate this menace!?

 

[Daibell]

HI. I assume you have been recently diagnosed as T1 and on Basal/Bolus insulin regime? When you say you are counting carbs do you mean counting out what you have in the meal or 'carb-counting' as in adjusting your Bolus to match the carbs in the meal? Adjusting the Bolus is very important to optimise BS control and avoid hypos. So you are doing well in keeping the carbs down which reduces the risk of hypos thru BS swings and also helps avoid weight gain. So all I can suggest if on Basal/Bolus is to start 'carb-counting' if you are not yet doing that; ask the DN to explain. Yeast infections are very common when the BS is high e.g. above around 11 mmol when you start getting sugar in the urine. I had recurring yeast until my BS came under reasonable control. So, I'm surprised you are still getting yeast infections with your reasonable BS control. I can only suggest discussing with the DN and of course using Canesten or similar anti-candida treatments. where relevant.

 

[nevenaves]

HI. I assume you have been recently diagnosed as T1 and on Basal/Bolus insulin regime? When you say you are counting carbs do you mean counting out what you have in the meal or 'carb-counting' as in adjusting your Bolus to match the carbs in the meal? Adjusting the Bolus is very important to optimise BS control and avoid hypos. So you are doing well in keeping the carbs down which reduces the risk of hypos thru BS swings and also helps avoid weight gain. So all I can suggest if on Basal/Bolus is to start 'carb-counting' if you are not yet doing that; ask the DN to explain. Yeast infections are very common when the BS is high e.g. above around 11 mmol when you start getting sugar in the urine. I had recurring yeast until my BS came under reasonable control. So, I'm surprised you are still getting yeast infections with your reasonable BS control. I can only suggest discussing with the DN and of course using Canesten or similar anti-candida treatments. where relevant.

Dear Daibell I only use basal insulin, but knowing that bolus insulin will be introduced in the future I wanted to get used to the new regime so it does not come as a shock when I go back to Novorapid (when my honeymoon ends). My BS was only once 11.3 (I check my BS 7 times a day) in last 2 months. I will speak with my DN. Thank you very much.

 

[slip]

Keep a log/diary of everything! well not everything but mainly food/carbs, BG finger prick test results, insulin dosages, exercise and 'womens things' and times of these events, it'll help you understand patterns etc and help your HCPs help you.

Somepeople like to try and extend their honeymoon period, others, as @Juicyj has already mentioned, find it easy to manage BGL once it's over, and I tend to agree with that.

 

[nevenaves]

Thank you Slip. I will include my cycles calendar in my food/carbs diary. My exercise is 20 mins of yoga every morning (7 days per week)+20 mins walk to work (5 times per week). As you can see I am not very active, I guess I still haven't relaxed and I am very cautious, because a 40 minutes walk after dinner ends up with hypo usually. My thing is swimming and canoeing, but I don't feel like doing any of them after I finish a meal.

 

[slip]

because a 40 minutes walk after dinner ends up with hypo usually

This is very common - doing anything physical with a load of insulin on board seems to make the insulin work harder, faster, better - happened to me after supper yesterday, straight after supper my daughter 11yr old wanted to mow the lawn inexplicably! (but I had mentioned it needed cutting before we go away during the meal) so I had to help her out and keep an eye on her by 'pottering' in the garden - more effort than I had bargained for and promptly went low. keeping a note about these issues means you can collate and come up with a plan for when you know you're planning to do x,y or z after a particular meal - not all meals are the same even if they have the same amount of carbs etc.